Monday, December 5, 2011

For ladies of leisure on a budget, Spa Castle in College Point, Queens is like the Disneyland of spas. For just $35 during the week ($45 on the weekends) you get unlimited access to their heated pools and seven themed saunas. You can stay a little while or make a whole day of it--they're open from 6am until midnight! This past weekend was the second annual Spa Castle jaunt for me and the Doc, my bestie since childhood. And no trip to Spa Castle is complete without some Korean food for lunch...

The "Sky Restaurant" on the 3rd floor at Spa Castle has a limited but decent menu of traditional Korean dishes for lunch and dinner. The Spicy Pork Lettuce wraps will run you $17, but it comes with a small soup (seemed to be beef broth with tofu and veggies), white or brown rice, banchan, and a hefty plate of daeji bulgogi aka spicy pork. The pork had just a bit of heat and was moist, tender and super flavorful.

We thought we'd split the pork wraps and the $12 spicy pork and kimchi soup (kimchi jjigae) and ended up with way more food than we bargained for. The kimchi jiigae was spicy and substantially filling. They didn't skimp on kimchi, so true kimchi fans will be most pleased. Next time we'll probably go for just the lettuce wraps shared between the two of us to leave more room for the shaved ice ($12) which came topped with pinapple, kiwi, orange, strawberry, mango, mochi and red bean. A very pleasant and refreshing way to end an intensely relaxing day.